Predicting the disorder-order transition of solvent-free nanoparticle-organic hybrid materials

The transition from a disordered to a face-centered-cubic phase in solvent-free oligomer-tethered nanoparticles is predicted using a density-functional theory for model hard spheres with tethered bead-spring oligomers. The transition occurs without a difference of volume fraction for the two phases, and the phase boundary is influenced by the loss of oligomer configurational entropy relative to an ideal random system in one phase compared with the other. When the particles are localized in the ordered phase, the cooperation of the oligomers in filling the space is hindered. Therefore, shorter oligomers feel a stronger entropic penalty in the ordered solid and favor the disordered phase. Strikingly, we found that the solvent-free system has a later transition than hard spheres for all investigated ratios of oligomer radius of gyration to particle radius.